Evangeline Lilly Biography
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian retired actress who gained fame for starring as Kate Austen in ABC’s Lost from 2004 to 2010. She won six nominations for the Saturn Best Actress on Television Award and a nomination for the Golden Globe Best Actress in a Drama Series Award.
Lilly has also starred in The Hurt Locker, Real Steel, The Hobbit film series, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies. From 2015 to 2023, Lilly portrayed Hope van Dyne/Wasp in the Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU). Besides acting, she authored the children’s book series, The Squickerwonkers.
Evangeline Lilly Age
Lilly was born Nicole Evangeline Lilly on August 3, 1979, in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. She is 45 years old as of 2024. Lily celebrates her birthday on August 3rd.
Evangeline Lilly Height
Lilly stands at an approximate height of 5 feet and 5 inches.
Evangeline Lilly Family
Lilly grew up Baptist and Mennonite in British Columbia alongside her two sisters. Her mother worked as a daycare center owner while her father worked as a home economics teacher. Lilly has English and Irish roots. Her father grew up in Kenya. Further, her paternal grandparents worked as missionaries in Africa. One of her grandmothers was an English war bride.
Evangeline Lilly Husband
Lilly started dating Norman Kali in 2010. She delivered their first son, Kahekili, after a 30-hour labor in 2011. Kahekili is 13 years old as of 2024. She finished filming Real Steel while one month pregnant with the Kahekili.
Lilly began working again 3 months after giving birth, appearing in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012. In October 2015, she delivered their second son. He is 9 years old as of 2024. She describes herself as a very devout evangelical.
Relationships
Before Norman, Lilly had two known relationships including a marriage. Recently, she dated Lost costar Dominic Monaghan from 2004 to 2007. Prior to that, she was married to hockey player, Murray Hone, from 2003 to 2004.
Evangeline Lilly Net Worth
Lilly has an estimated net worth of between $5 Million-$10 Million which she has earned through her successful career as a retired actress.
Evangeline Lilly Education
Lilly graduated with a 4.3 GPA from W. J. Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia. There, she worked as the captain of the soccer team and vice president of the student council. Next, she joined the University of British Columbia where she majored in international relations due to her interest in humanitarian causes and world development.
During college, she did odd jobs to fund her education including being a waitress and doing oil changes and grease jobs on huge rig trucks. Further, she worked as a flight attendant for Royal Airlines. She cut her studies in college short due to her role as Kate Austen on Lost.
Evangeline Lilly Lost
Lilly gained fame for starring as Kate Austen in ABC’s Lost from 2004 to 2010, appearing in 108 of 121 episodes. Kate is the daughter of diner worker Diane and U.S. Army Ranger Sam. Sam and Diane split, with her marrying Wayne Janssen, an abusive alcoholic.
While protecting her mother from abuse, Kate kills Wayne. As a result, she becomes a fugitive when Diane reports her to the police. Kate then begins using aliases to escape capture and engages in crimes like theft and deception.
U.S. Marshal Edward Mars was taking her to the U.S. on Oceanic Flight 815. However, after the plane crashes, she wakes up on a mysterious island with other survivors.
A friend encouraged her to try for the role in late 2003. Despite her expectations, she won the role after auditioning with around 75 other women. She almost lost the role due to her struggling to get a work visa to enter the U.S. After trying almost 20 times, she went to Hawaii for filming a day late.
Lilly portrayed Kate when she was aged between 24 and 30. She declined to do a partial nude scene in an early episode of Lost. After wrapping up filming, she thought of taking a hiatus from acting and focusing on her charity and humanitarian endeavors. Her performance in the film won her six nominations for the Saturn Best Actress on Television Award and a nomination for the Golden Globe Best Actress in a Drama Series Award.
Evangeline Lilly The Hobbit
In 2012, Lilly joined the cast of The Hobbit as Tauriel, a Mirkwood elf working as the head of the Elven guard. A skilled warrior and leader, Tauriel serves King Thranduil and protects her realm from threats like the increasing darkness in Middle-earth.
In preparation for the role, Lilly did training in archery, swordplay, and speaking the Elvish language. She recurred the role of Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Her role as Tauriel won her a nomination for the Saturn Best Supporting Actress Award, the Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Actress in an Action Movie Award, the Empire Best Supporting Actress Award, and a Kid’s Choice Favorite Female Buttkicker Award.
Evangeline Lilly Nude
After being forced to do partially nude scenes in Lost‘s third and fourth seasons, Lilly shared that she avoids nude scenes. She said that she was horrified and trembling after filming the scenes, leaving her feeling powerless and humiliated. After her experience on the show, she said that she became assertive with refusing nude roles. Moreover, she said she was empathetic towards women who don’t have the same level of control over their roles.
Evangeline Lilly Housefire
Lilly’s house in Kailua, Hawaii caught fire due to an electrical problem on December 20, 2006. As a result, her house and all of her possessions while she was on the set of Lost was ruined.
Evangeline Lilly COVID-19
After refusing self-quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, she received mixed responses on 16 March 2020. She commented on her Instagram account that it was business as usual and that she values freedom over her life. 10 days later, she apologized for her comments, referring to them as arrogant, ambiguous, and disdainful.
She shared that she had marched against the vaccine mandates for COVID-19 in Washington, D.C. on January 27, 2022, via her Instagram account. Additionally, she said that nobody should be coerced to inject anything into their body against their will. In the midst of the Canada convoy protest in February of that year, she persuaded Justin Trudeau to meet with the protestors.
Evangeline Lilly Career
Lilly launched her acting career after an agent from a Ford Modelling Agency discovered her in Kelowna, British Columbia. Even though she took the agent’s card, she didn’t pursue acting immediately. She later called the agency, earning her multiple roles in commercials and non-speaking parts in the TV shows Smallville and Kingdom Hospital. Further, she made an appearance on a video game news and review program on G4TV.
In 2004, Lilly secured the role of Kate Austen in Lost, a role that propelled her to fame. She starred in the role for 108 of 121 episodes till 2010. In 2008, she appeared in The Hurt Locker, winning her and its cast the Gotham Independent Film Best Ensemble Cast Award and the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Ensemble Award. She also played the lead role in Afterwards that same year.
In 2010, she went on a brief hiatus and didn’t contact Hollywood since she was busy with her child. In May of that year, she shared on The View that motherhood was her priority and that she took acting as a day job. The following year, she rejected several film offers but later took on the role of boxing gym owner Bailey Tallet in Real Steel opposite Hugh Jackman. She accepted the role after reading the film’s script. While promoting the film, she rejected a role in the X-Men franchise from Jackman, saying that she wasn’t into superhero movies at the time.
2012 to present;
In 2012, Lilly joined the cast of The Hobbit as Tauriel, a Mirkwood elf working as the head of the Elven guard. In preparation for the role, she did training in archery, swordplay, and speaking the Elvish language. She recurred the role of Tauriel in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Lilly starred as Hope van Dyne as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Ant-Man in 2015. Moreover, she signed a multi-film contract with Marvel. In 2017, she appeared in Netflix’s Little Evil opposite Adam Scott. Next, she recurred her role as Hope in Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. During the latter year, she was cast to appear in Happy Place opposite Ike Barinholtz.
In 2021, Lilly starred opposite Gary Oldman and Armie Hammer in Crisis. Further, she appeared in South of Heaven which won her a Best Actress Award at the AFIN International Film Festival. She also provided the voiceover for an alternate version of the Wasp in Disney+’s What If…? 2021. Moreover, she reprised that role in February 2023 in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Lilly was announced to voice a character in the English version of Legend of Destruction which was originally released in 2021 in Hebrew. In the animation, she voiced Berenice of Cilicia, the last Jewish queen who tried to protect her people even at the cost of her life. Since 2009, she has worked as the spokesperson and model for L’Oreal Paris.
2024: Retirement
Lily shared that she would step away from acting in June 2024, stating that she needs to focus on her family. However, she said that she would return to Hollywood one day.
Public image
Following her rise to fame for portraying Lost‘s Kate Austen, Lile started making appearances in the media. Further, she was often mentioned in “Most Beautiful” lists. In 2004, Entertainment Weekly mentioned her among its list of Breakout Stars. That same year, People magazine named her among its 50 Most Beautiful People list. In 2007, Lily’s performance as Austen was voted the #1 Sexiest Woman on Television TV Guide. FHM mentioned her in its Top Sexiest list.
Charity work
Lily works with non-profits like the GO Campaign. She auctioned off custom lingerie in 2009 as a way of supporting Task Brasil, a non-profit that provides safe housing to the lost street children of Brazil.
For over a decade, she has been involved with humanitarian work in Rwanda where she runs an NGO. In 2010, Lily auctioned three lunches in Vancouver, Honolulu, and Los Angeles to help widows and orphans in Rwanda. 2 years later, she auctioned a Hawaiian hike to raise money for the Sierra Club.
Writing
Lilly discovered her interest in writing while on the set of Lost in 2006. She published The Squickerwonkers at San Diego Comic-Con. The book series surrounds a girl who joins a group of strange outcasts with particular vices depicted as family.
The Squickerwonkers series includes the titles; The Squickerwonkers: The Prequel released in 2014, The Squickerwonkers, Act 1: The Demise of Selma the Spoiled and The Squickerwonkers, Act 2: The Demise of Lorna the Lazy released in 2018, as well as The Squickerwonkers, Act 3: The Demise of Andy the Arrogant released in 2019. She cites Roald Dahl and Edward Gorey as her literary inspirations.
Evangeline Lilly Movies and TV Shows
Lilly has starred in several movies and TV shows during her career such as
- The Lizzie McGuire Movie
- Stealing Sinatra
- Kingdom Hospital
- Tru Calling
- White Chicks
- Afterwards
- The Long Weekend
- Ant-Man
- Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Little Evil
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- Marvel Studios: Assembled
Evangeline Lilly Social Media Platforms
She is active on her social media accounts and often posts on her Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. She has over 1.7M on Facebook, over 2.2M on Instagram, and over 250K on Twitter.